The Pioneer Condos are a prototype for future downtown redevelopment in Lubbock. (Zach Long)

AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

Downtown redevelopment has been on the lips and minds of Lubbockites for more than seven years, and improvements are beginning to be seen.

The utility project

Developer Delbert McDougal said downtown will be in the stage of burying utility lines for several years.

The first phase of the utility project stretches from 10th Street to 19th Street on Avenue O and heads east on Main Street before hitting the NTS building on Avenue L.

The $2.3 million project is financed from a $1.5 million Economic Development Administration grant and an $800,000 grant from the city, according to past A-J reports.

The CEO of McDougal companies said residents can see utility lines going in close to the Wells Fargo building from Avenue O to Avenue Q.

“This one, we’re going to have to stay with the utilities. You can’t get ahead of them because you will see almost all the alleys being closed,” McDougal said. “There’s some exciting projects that will start to be announced over the next year. That’s going to be really a kickoff to what you will see in the months and years ahead. ... It will really start coming along once those utilities start to make their way in place.”

Marsha Reed, chief operating officer for the city, said phase one of the utility project is scheduled to finish at the end of October or the first of November and remains on budget.

Currently, the duct mains are being constructed.

Later, individual utility companies will be responsible for pulling their own equipment and dealing with businesses, she said.

Phase two is not scheduled to start immediately, because discussion is needed on where the next phase will take place. It also will require additional funding.

The city is looking into possibly submitting another grant application, Reed said. The number of phases required for the project unknown.

“Right now, we’re looking to extend on down Main Street, the 10th Street area and try to pick up additional areas down that direction,” she said. “Until we have additional funding and additional information from Delbert to see where he’s looking at bringing development next, or see where it will occur, we’re not going to have any details on phase two. We’re going to have to watch the financial (aspect) very closely.”

New business

The downtown project’s timeline is similar to that of the Overton project – about 10 to 13 years, McDougal said.

However, more buildings will stay in place downtown, including Wells Fargo, AT&T, the courthouse, federal buildings and churches.

Some old buildings already have been taken over by new companies, such as Texas Tech taking over the old Xcel Energy building. The old TNM&O bus station is now home to Experience Life Church, he added.

“(The old Xcel building) has already got 90 new people downtown that work downtown everyday in that one building,” McDougal said. “You’re starting to see bits and pieces of that, that will start coming together.”

McDougal said the new Pioneer Condos, located in the old Pioneer Hotel at 1202 Broadway, is the prototype for what people can expect to see downtown in the future. It’s the first property downtown that will start to make a difference, he said.

The developer remains tight-lipped about potential businesses coming to the area, but confirmed a movie theater is in the works and should be announced in the next month. He said there is a lot of interest in downtown from areas in retail, dining and living.

Even McDougal admits the project has been a lot of talk for a long time.

“The problem you’ve got downtown is people have heard for many years now about the revitalization of downtown,” he said. “It’s just now becoming a reality. It’s just going to take a lot of time to get those in place and the buildings to follow. Because of the infrastructures you’ve got, because of Texas Tech and because of the close proximity to the medical districts, it’s really a natural for downtown to become a gigantic success story just as the Overton did.”

Lubbockites can expect to see a four-story apartment project mirroring the appearance of the Centre and the Suites at Overton Park, McDougal said.

After the residential projects are developed, restaurants will begin developing, he said. After the restaurants are in, townhouse projects will come in and around downtown toward Interstate 27.

McDougal calls it “a complete city, basically, within itself.”

Currently, about 18,000 to 20,000 people commute to work downtown during the week, McDougal said, and that number will increase with new development. One of the key aspects of redevelopment is housing the new downtown workers.

McDougal said that will take place in the next three to five years.

“You will see a total (revamping) of downtown that could easily have those 20,000-plus people that not only worked there but live there, and that number, certainly over time, will be larger than that because of growth of Texas Tech and growth of the medical industry will cause that to happen downtown,” he said. “If you look at the empty buildings downtown today and visualize all of them being replaced or redone and occupied, you bring in a lot of new people into downtown.”

In recent weeks, there was a lot of construction right in front of the building, she said. She also is noticing an increase in traffic in the area.

A negative aspect of redevelopment was the unattractive construction, but it was nothing the center couldn’t handle, she said.

Sharkey said an attorney’s office has redesigned a building across the street from The Legacy, and she’s looking forward to combining some new businesses with old ones.

She believes it’s important to keep the old churches in place, as well as the old Pioneer Hotel.

“In my opinion, it’s been like this for so many years,” Sharkey said. “At least there’s progress, in my opinion. Anything is better than nothing at all. ... I’m looking forward to what it’s going to be. The talk, the talk of everybody talking it up — I hope it’s what everybody wants it to be.”

Sammie Prather, print communications director for First United Methodist Church, 1411 Broadway, said the church has worked to make a better impact in downtown Lubbock and give members a better reason to come to the area.

The older part of the church was built in 1953, she said, and a new Christian Life Center opened in 2005. The new facility offers better opportunities for the members, including a full-size gym, a contemporary worship area and a youth department, and houses the outreach center, including a weekly soup kitchen.

Church members also conduct mission work in the surrounding community, aiming to take care of the neighborhoods so they don’t deteriorate more, Prather said.

“I’m a longtime Lubbock supporter, and it’s great to have projects going on (downtown),” she said. “I hope they will be contagious, and people will see the strength and reasons to come back downtown if they’ve left.”

Joyce Bigham, co-owner of Triple J Chophouse, 1807 Buddy Holly Ave., said she attended planning meetings for downtown redevelopment two or three years ago. She said she believes the work is behind schedule, and she hasn’t seen many signs of redevelopment yet.

“At that time, we were only in business at Triple J for probably two or three years, and of course we’re still in business, which is a good thing,” she said. “Luckily, we’ve made it down there. As far as anything coming on board, I haven’t heard or seen anything. Certainly, I haven’t seen any infrastructures being improved upon, such as utilities or anything like that. The only thing I’ve seen, really, is the McDougal project with the Pioneer Hotel and changing that. That’s a real positive impact; I’m glad to see that coming along.”

Once utilities are buried, she said, she believes other companies and commerce would start developing downtown.

Bigham is awaiting visible changes and is looking forward to the completion of the Marsha Sharp Freeway. Triple J is what Bigham calls a destination restaurant, and said those who live in south or southwest Lubbock can forget about its downtown location. The entire downtown area will profit by the redevelopment, she said.

“I think the mentality is, ‘Out of sight, out of mind,’ ... because I know when you live on the south part of town, and have no reason to go downtown, you have no concern, probably, about that,” she said. “However, most of the people who do work downtown, those are the people, even though they may live on the south part of town, they have the realization of what a vibrant downtown can do for a community and how necessary it is.”

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Thanks Mr. McDougal and all others involved for taking on this huge project. This will position Lubbock well for the future! I just think there will be a tremendous amount of excitement about the changes downtown which will lead to huge growth and interest in Lubbock.

LUBBOCK NEEDS TO BUILD A 32 STORY BUILDING DOWNTOWN TO SHOW THERE IS GROWTH. IT WILL ALSO DWARF ANY BUILDINGS IN ABILENE, AMARILLO AND MIDLAND. LUBBOCK IS THE BIGGER CITY. LETS SHOW IT BY BUILDING A TALL BUILDING! COME ON MCDOUGAL!! BUILD IT!